TEXSAR members CR Thomas and Brandon Goering completed the ICS All-Hazards Planning Section Chief course in Waco this week facilitated by the Texas Forestry Service. The instructors had decades of experience in incident management, and the class was comprised of very skilled emergency response professionals from across the state. This training is a great asset to TEXSAR’s Incident Management Team. ...
On Sunday June 24, 2012 TEXSAR team members assisted the Heart of The Pines volunteer fire department in Bastrop County. This was a work day event to help organize the fire stations on Highway 71 and the Cottletown station. Our team members cleaned and organized equipment and fire gear to assist the fire department members as they continue to recover. The Labor Day fires of 2011 destroyed the station at Coddle Town, much of the department’s equipment and many of...
On Saturday June 23, 2012 two TEXSAR Master CERT Instructors taught a Search and Rescue class for the 2012 City of Austin Department of Homeland Security’s summer class. The class was well attended and covered CERT actions during responses to neighborhood based disasters. CERT members are trained to assist their neighbors and communities during the initial response to area disasters and incidents. Mackenzie Kelly and Greg Pyles are the only certified CERT Master Instructors in the Capital Area Council of...
The Bastrop Heart Of The Pines Volunteer Fire Department has made a significant commitment to provide TEXSAR with donations of equipment, a vehicle and training for our wildland fire team members! These are the same folks that lost many of their homes and much of their equipment during the Labor Day fires of 2011. We look forward to providing them with training, SAR and disaster response resources in the future. These are terrific people and hard working volunteers. ...
Last week the Travis County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team made a significant contribution of equipment and supplies to TEXSAR! It took two pick-ups to load it all. There are enough supplies that we may likely be able to share some items with some of our partner teams! TEXSAR is grateful for both the donation and the growing relationship with the Dive team members. We are working on a date to exercise with them soon!! ...
On June 12 two of our TEXSAR members graduated as Master Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Instructors. This will allow TEXSAR to provide training to new CERT Instructors throughout Texas for both Adult and Teen CERT programs. Mackenzie Kelly and Greg Pyles were two of only nine CERT Instructors from across the State selected to take this training. They were the only graduates from the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) Region. The training was provided by CAPCOG, North Central Texas...
This weekend, TEXSAR members Shawn Hohnstreiter and John Michael Gibbs completed the final processes in gaining apprentice instructor status for vertical rope rescue and flood and swiftwater rescue. The new instructors join TEXSAR member and instructor Mark Baumann as the training cadre for TEXSAR’s vertical rescue team and flood and swiftwater rescue team. Regarding the achievement, Instructor Hohnstreiter said, “This represents the growth of our search and rescue team and our commitment to the community. We can be sure our technical...
At the request of the Central Texas Community Emergency Response Team Coordinator TEXSAR’s CERT trainers met with the Village of Point Venture Emergency Management team and interested citizens on Wednesday evening, May 30. Point Venture is launching their first Community Emergency Response Team training and the meeting was to provide information about the program and how TEXSAR would deliver the training and support the program. City officials will begin scheduling the classes and we will provide the training and CERT program management support. Great City leadership, hospitality and...
On Saturday morning, May 19th, TEXSAR team members headed to New Braunfels to participate in a training “play day” with Wesley Meyers of Rescue Training International (RTI). The morning started at a heavily canopied canyon preserve where TEXSAR members, along with members from TMAR and first responders from across Texas, were provided with an overview of Land Search and Rescue Concepts and Lost Person Behavior Patterns. Participants then practiced and refined their line search and echo location skills. Next was...
Beginning at 4:20 am Wednesday May 16, 2012 our team began preparing to assist the Killeen Police Department (KPD) with a search for a missing 8 yr old boy. The team and our friends responded quickly. Team member Matt Boettner lives in Killeen and was at the KPD Headquarters before 8 am discussing the case with the lead detective. Our Operations and Planning units began running lost person behavior and likely find area identification based on the information we had. The Logistics unit began planning for required equipment and...
